Ending Its Silence, U.S. Expresses Confidence in U.N.’s Annan

UNITED NATIONS —  The United States government has confidence in U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and is not trying to force him to resign, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John C. Danforth said Thursday.

Danforth’s comments were the administration’s first statement on Annan since Republicans in Congress began to call last week for the secretary-general’s resignation. U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, a Minnesota Republican, wrote in a Dec. 1 Wall Street Journal op-ed piece that Annan should step down to take responsibility for alleged corruption in the U.N.’s “oil-for-food” program in Iraq. A number of Congress members and media outlets followed suit.

Annan’s term ends Dec. 31, 2006, and he said this week that he was determined to “carry on.”

The Bush administration, while not joining in calls for Annan to resign, had not expressed confidence in his leadership until Thursday. When asked last week whether he had confidence in Annan, Danforth declined to say yes, and replied that it was necessary to let the investigations of the oil-for-food program be completed, for all the facts to come out, and “to let the chips fall where they may.”

President Bush made similar remarks last week in Canada, adding that it was the U.S. taxpayers’ right to know whether the organization they helped support was involved in wrongdoing.

But in an apparent change of heart, Danforth said he summoned reporters because he was concerned that earlier comments intended to come across as neutral were interpreted as negative instead.

“I simply wanted to clarify the situation that this is not some secret message by the government of the United States, and somehow we’re using this whole thing to push out the secretary general. That’s not true,” he said

“It is important for us, the U.S., to clarify our position. We are not suggesting the resignation or pushing for the resignation of the secretary-general,” he said. “We have worked with him very well in the past. We anticipate working with him very well in the future for the time to come.”

Saying he was speaking for the White House and the State Department, Danforth added, “No one, to my knowledge, has cast doubt on the personal integrity of the secretary-general, no one. And we certainly don’t.”

Danforth emphasized that Annan had played important roles seeking solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the crisis in Sudan, and helping organize elections in Iraq.

U.S. administration officials have suggested that the White House does not want to alienate Annan as the U.N. helps to organize Iraq’s election, scheduled for Jan. 30. A preliminary report from a U.N. inquiry into the oil-for-food program led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker is due in January. It may give an indication of whether criticism of Annan will increase or dampen.

The Security Council launched the oil-for-food program in 1996 to help alleviate the harsh effects of international sanctions imposed on Iraq in 1990. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was able to amass billions of dollars through oil smuggling and kickbacks he demanded on contracts for humanitarian goods supervised by the U.N.

Eight investigations, including five by congressional committees, are looking into whether U.N. officials accepted bribes or were negligent in the program’s administration.

Danforth was careful to repeat the administration’s desire for a full and open accounting of the program Thursday.

“There has to be full cooperation with the investigation by all parties,” he said, alluding to complaints by congressional investigators that Annan was blocking access to documents and U.N. personnel. “Was there fraud? Was there bribery? Were there payoffs? Who got what from whom? And that sort of factual investigation has to go forward in a very comprehensive fashion.”

Until Thursday, the U.S. was the only country on the Security Council to withhold its support for the secretary-general, but Danforth’s statement put it in the camp with nearly 100 countries that have publicly expressed support for Annan.

On Wednesday, the 191-nation General Assembly gave him a standing ovation, which its president called a “rare and valuable homage.”

An open letter released Thursday from prominent South African leaders, including former President Nelson Mandela, former Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and writer Nadine Gordimer, called the campaign against Annan “reprehensible and unjust.”

On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said, “I have had the occasion to be grateful for his leadership on many occasions, and I very much hope that he is allowed to get on with his job.”